Students return home as national champs
YUKON — In a week of firsts, Brianna Adams reached the pinnacle.
First plane ride. First time to tip a driver. And first time to compete on a national level. Through it all, she came up golden.
Known to friends as “Breezy,” Adams and fellow recent Mustang High School graduate Kailey Irwin swept through the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America competition in San Diego.
There as representatives of the early care and education class from Canadian Valley Technology Center, Adams and Irwin left as national champions.
The tandem competed in the Focus on Children division at the FCCLA national competition, along with other state champions from across the country. In all, there were 8,500 competitors.
Their project, titled “Hunting for Transitions,” is a collection of transition activities designed to make it easier for preschool teachers to move from one activity to another while keeping the attention of young children.
“They highlighted five key times when you can you lose your audience,” said Deborah White, a Canadian Valley Tech early care and education instructor.
Activities centered on a song the students wrote.
“They put together a packet on transitions and a supply list and sent it out to every day care in Canadian County,” White said. “They impacted a minimum 540 children.”
Adams said the whirlwind week culminating with a national gold medal was special.
“It was exciting,” she said. “I feel very blessed to have the resources that I did to compete. San Diego is so different than Mustang. I loved the weather. It was awesome. The population is a big difference, and urban life was a bit of a culture shock.”
Work and study
Canadian Valley Tech’s Foundation pays a portion of each student’s expenses for those who qualify for national competitions.
Adams and Irwin finished the school’s twoyear early care curriculum in one year.
Adams said she had to do so to stay on track to start college in the fall. She wants to pursue a career in early education or child psychology.
Adams is working this summer in Canadian Valley’s child development center at Church of Christ South Yukon. That location will change in January, when the reconstructed El Reno Campus reopens.
A May 2013 tornado destroyed the campus. Church administration welcomed the school’s early care program and accompanying child care center in their recently completed children’s wing at no cost. School officials since have insisted on making a modest monthly payment to help the church defray utility costs.
FCCLA is a nonprofit career and technical student organization for young men and women in family and consumer sciences education.
Established in 1945, FCCLA members strive to make a difference in their families, careers and communities by addressing personal, work and societal issues through family and consumer sciences education. The organization consists of more than 160,000 members in more than 5,400 chapters across 48 states.
Irwin, who works at Building Blocks Learning Center in Mustang, plans to start working on an early childhood degree in the fall.
Among other winners
Canadian Valley Technology Center had 25 state champions this past school year.
The adult student trio of Cherry Boling, of Oklahoma City, Sarah O’Brien, of Yukon, and Sarah Hendershot, Oklahoma City, won silver medals in biomedical debate at the Health Occupations Students of America International Leadership Conference competition in Nashville, Tenn.
Yajaira Gonzalez, also of Mustang, placed third in the nation in cosmetology at the National SkillsUSA contest in Louisville, Ky. Gonzalez won first place at the district level in April and qualified for the state contest in May in Tulsa. She won the state gold medal in updos and haircuts. SkillsUSA is the student organization for those enrolled in technical, skilled and service occupations such as cosmetology. SkillsUSA helps ensure America has a skilled workforce.